When members of the public think about their vehicles being stolen they think about the inconvenience of losing their means of transportation and of having to deal with police and insurance companies. In addition to thieves using these vehicles to commit drug offences, robberies and other crimes, police point out the dangerous manner in which some of the crooks drive poses a danger to police officers as well as members of the public.
The video was released earlier this week and is composed of real footage taken by police helicopters known as HAWCS (Helicopter Air Watch Community Safety). Police decided to release the video after the city recorded 4,879 thefts during 2016. This represented a 51 percent increase over the average number of thefts during the past five years. On average, about 12 vehicles are stolen in Calgary every day.
Police advise on Wednesday morning alone, 14 vehicles were stolen after they were left running and unattended. During a week-long blitz in December, officers found 800 unattended vehicles left running.
The video shows several incidents including carjackings, cars driven dangerously at high speeds and going through red lights and a vehicle that mounts the sidewalk and almost strikes a pedestrian. Several collisions can be seen in the video.
According to police, in addition to the dangers posed by the thieves, stolen cars put a strain on police resources. These resources are used in locating, tracking and recovering the vehicle. Then there is the time involved in the investigation and the laying of charges. Many of the resources are specialized ones such as the helicopter and canine units. The amount of time investigating stolen vehicles prevents officers from responding to other priority calls. The CPS reports about 90 percent of stolen vehicles are recovered.
The CPS gave common sense tips to the public to prevent their cars from being stolen. People are warned not to leave their vehicles running and unattended, especially when there are children in the car. They should, if possible, have a remote starter installed and should always lock their vehicle and never leave a spare key near the car. The public is also advised to use a steering wheel lock to deter thieves.
Members of the public are also asked to report people engaged in suspicious activity around a vehicle or if they witness a crime in progress.
